Murder on the Orient Express Character Analysis

Hercule Poirot

Hercule Poirot, the protagonist of the story, is a celebrated Belgian detective who stumbles on a murder investigation when a man in his train car, Mr. Ratchett, is murdered. Poirot is a short, bald… read analysis of Hercule Poirot

M. Bouc

M. Bouc, who is a friend of Poirot’s, is a high-ranking employee of the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits, the company that operates the Orient Express. As the murder of Mr. Ratchett is a… read analysis of M. Bouc

Mr. Ratchett / Cassetti

Mr. Ratchett is an older man in his sixties traveling with Mr. MacQueen, whom Poirot first encounters at a hotel in Istanbul. Ratchett immediately gives off a sinister impression to Poirot, to the extent… read analysis of Mr. Ratchett / Cassetti

Hector MacQueen

Hector is an American man around the age of thirty who took a job as an assistant to Mr. Ratchett, primarily helping him navigate the various languages of Europe in his travels. This detail… read analysis of Hector MacQueen

Mary Debenham

Mary Debenham is a British governess in her twenties who attends the first leg of the journey from Aleppo to Istanbul along with Poirot and Colonel Arbuthnot. Ms. Debenham is austere and stoic, even… read analysis of Mary Debenham

Colonel Arbuthnot

Colonel Arbuthnot is an older British soldier, a veteran of British colonial projects in India. He’s a stolid, “Anglo-Saxon” type, whom Poirot describes as being “honourable, [and] slightly stupid.” He provides an alibi for the… read analysis of Colonel Arbuthnot

Mrs. Hubbard

Mrs. Hubbard is an older American woman who presumably travels to support charitable and educational causes abroad. Her endless gossip and nosiness, as well as her cultural chauvinism, marks her as distinctively American to some… read analysis of Mrs. Hubbard

Pierre Michel

Pierre is a veteran French conductor for the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits, working on the Paris-Calais car of the Orient Express. The investigators see Pierre as a dependable, honorable man, but not as one… read analysis of Pierre Michel

Cyrus Hardman

Cyrus Hardman is an American on the Orient Express who introduces himself as a travelling salesman of typewriter ribbons. On recognizing Poirot as a famous detective, he “comes clean” and admits he’s a private investigator… read analysis of Cyrus Hardman

Princess Natalia Dragomiroff

Princess Dragomiroff is wealthy, elderly Russian woman who now resides in France. The other passengers remark on her ugliness, but also her strength of will and self-possession. An expensive handkerchief is planted in Ratchett’s… read analysis of Princess Natalia Dragomiroff

Antonio Foscarelli

Often referred to as simply “the Italian,” Antonio is an Italian-born businessman with dealings in America. Antonio is especially garrulous, and Poirot has to remind him to stay on topic in their interviews surrounding Ratchett… read analysis of Antonio Foscarelli

Hildegarde Schmidt

Hildegarde is a German lady’s maid working for Princess Dragomiroff. In his interview with her, Poirot speaks German to put her at ease and baits her by complimenting her cooking, which is beyond the… read analysis of Hildegarde Schmidt

Countess Andrenyi

Countess Andrenyi, a young woman of around twenty, is a Hungarian noble married to Count Andrenyi. It’s revealed at the end of the novel that her real name is Helena Goldenberg, and that she’s… read analysis of Countess Andrenyi

Count Andrenyi

A Hungarian man of around thirty, the Count met and married Helena Goldenberg, known afterward as Countess Andrenyi, while doing diplomatic work in Washington, D.C. Aware of his wife’s direct connection to the Armstrong… read analysis of Count Andrenyi

Dr. Constantine

Dr. Constantine is a Greek doctor traveling on the Orient Express, whose services are required to determine the nature of Mr. Ratchett’s death. He observes that many different people may have inflicted Mr. Ratchett… read analysis of Dr. Constantine

Daisy Armstrong

Daisy Armstrong was the three-year-old daughter of Colonel Armstrong and Sonia Armstrong. Before the opening of the novel, Daisy had been kidnapped, ransomed, and killed by a gangster named Cassetti. Although the crime spurred… read analysis of Daisy Armstrong

Minor Characters

Greta Ohlsson

Greta is a Swedish woman on the Orient Express who’s sentimental and a bit delicate. Mrs. Hubbard takes her under her wing because the murder of Ratchett seems to especially disturb Greta. Greta later admits that she used to be Daisy Armstrong’s nurse.

Edward Henry Masterman

Masterman is Mr. Ratchett’s valet, or personal assistant. He’s an unemotional British man who likes to read and complains of a toothache on the night of Ratchett’s murder. Masterman was the personal servant of Colonel Armstrong, Daisy’s father, in World War I.